Aberdeen man pleads guilty to sexual assaults of women he met on backpage.com

Aegis file/BSMG

An Aberdeen man charged with sexually assaulting, in less than 24 hours, two women he met on backpage.com last fall pleaded guilty Wednesday in both cases, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

An Aberdeen man charged with sexually assaulting, in less than 24 hours, two women he met on backpage.com last fall pleaded guilty Wednesday in both cases, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office said. (Aegis file/BSMG)

An Aberdeen man charged with sexually assaulting, in less than 24 hours, two women he met on backpage.com last fall pleaded guilty Wednesday in both cases, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

Davonnte Sconion, 22, of the first block of Liberty Street, pleaded guilty to first-degree rape and was sentenced to life in jail with all but 25 years suspended, followed by three years of unsupervised probation, according to a news release from Harford County State’s Attorney Joseph Cassilly.

He also pleaded guilty to attempted rape and was sentenced to 25 years in jail, concurrent to the first-degree rape sentence, Cassilly said.

On Sept. 10, 2017, a woman reported at 9:22 p.m. that she had just been raped. She told Aberdeen Police Department officers she had placed an ad on backpage.com and agreed to meet and have sex with a man for $250 an hour, according to the news release.

The woman was supposed to meet the male, later identified as Sconion, at the corner of Carol Ave and Philadelphia Boulevard. When no one was there, the woman called Sconion and he told her to go to the parking lot of the Economy Inn for a taxi that was going to take her to 40 Liberty St. in Aberdeen, according to the news release. Before she got to the parking lot, she said was accosted by a tall thin African-American male who was wearing a gray hooded jacket.

The victim told police her attacker placed a knife to her right side and told her not to make any noise. By knifepoint, he dragged her to the backyard of 21 Carol Ave., where he raped her then ran off in an unknown direction, according to the news release.

The woman was taken to Harford Memorial Hospital where a SAFE exam was performed. DNA swabs were taken and submitted to the Maryland State Police Lab for analysis, according to the news release.

Less than 24 hours later, on Sept. 11, the Aberdeen Police Department reported it received a call at 8:58 p.m. from a woman said someone tried to rape her.

The second woman told police she also met a man, also later identified as Sconion, on backpage.com and agreed to meet him at 40 Liberty St. in Aberdeen to have a sex with him for money.

When the woman arrived, the home was dark. No interior lights or porch light were on, but a man was standing on the front porch. Before she stepped on the bottom step of the porch, the woman got a bad feeling and decided to leave, she told police.

Before she could reach her car, however, the man on the porch pulled her hair and punched her in the head and face and tried to drag her into the house. She fought back and a struggle ensued to the side of the yard.

Fearing for her life, the woman pulled out a razor knife from her back pocket and slashed her attacker on his right forearm. The attacker ran to the woman’s car and slashed one of her tires. The woman got into her car and drove up Liberty Street, where sought help from a resident.

Aberdeen Officer Michael Soler and his dog tracked a scent from the side of 40 Liberty St. to across the street to a house with an address of 29 Liberty St., where Sconion lived, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Detectives took DNA of swabs of the woman as well swabs of blood found on her left forearm and her right pant leg, which were sent to the Maryland State Police Lab for analysis, police said.

On Oct. 3, 2017, members of the Aberdeen Police Department participated in a SAFE streets detail in the 100 block of East Bel Air Avenue to deter crime and to speak with possible witnesses to recent crimes.

Det. Milton Alexander spoke with Sconion, whom Alexander noticed matched the general description of the attacker in the rape and attempted rape; he was also wearing a gray hoodie. Through this interaction, Alexander learned that Sconion lived at 29 Liberty St., according to the news release.

Alexander applied Oct. 6 for a search and seizure warrant for Sconion’s DNA; it was executed Oct. 9. On Oct. 11, MSP Lab disclosed that Sconion matched the DNA found from the SAFE kit from the rape victim and the blood on the victim from the attempted rape, from her left forearm and pant leg, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.

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